Guerilla Educators

Best Practices, Project based Learning; The "Imagine" Design Project

The "Imagine" Project documents the design processes between students at the Barack Obama Green Charter High School located in Plainfield New Jersey and their expert Community Partners, both real-time and virtual.  Students participating in the "Imagine" Project are re-designing an actual unused industrial space in Plainfield that very well may become the actual physical facility of the school in 2015 and beyond.   "Imagine" is also a powerful catalyst for students to achieve academic and civic proficiencies. Take a look...

Best Practices; "Imagine" Design Project Student Voices

"Imagine" Design Project; Teacher Reflections

 

A remarkable session took place between students at the Barack Obama Green Charter High School, in Plainfield, NJ and David Schrader, from the offices of SchraderGroup Architecture, located in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia. David livestreamed from Philly to Plainfield to work with the students there about programming of physical school spaces, zoning, and design. This virtual session with the Obama Green students is the second in a series of web-based "live" sessions between Community Partners like SchraderGroup and the students.  With the critical support of Community Partners, students at Obama Green are imagining their school, currently located in a storefront at Downtown Plainfield, as they would like it to be.  Take a look...

 

This video is a mash up of 2 design sessions that took place on February 26 and 27, 2014 under the guidance of architect Jay Perantoni at The Barack Obama Green Charter High School, in Plainfield, New Jersey. The video demonstrates authentic student involvement at the very beginning of an actual design process that is engaging, curriculum based, and fun and that addresses real world, community related issues that are important to them. This is Service Learning at a very high degree of effectiveness. Take a look...

Students at the Barack Obama Green Charter High School continue their "Imagine" design Project. They are re-imagining their school spaces as they would like them to be. In this video, they have their first SketchUp session with Marcus and Bianca from SSP Architects. "Imagine" is part of the actual design renovation process of an abandoned urban structure which is projected to become the new charter high school. Take a look...

This following is a 5 minute audio from Ewan McIntosh, one of the world's most creative thinkers about education and educational facilities design, to the students at Obama Green High School about their design processes.  Thanks, Ewan!

Click here for the audio.

The "Imagine" Design Project continues with students from the Barack Obama Green Charter High School making a class visit to the SSP Architectural Group's offices.  The students were given a tour of the work areas and were able to interact with the educational facilities planners there.  After the tour, they presented their work thus far to the architects on their re-design ideas for the next iteration of the Obama Green physical teaching and learning spaces.  Take a look...

 

Special thanks to Jeanne and Jay Perantoni and all the folks at SSP Architectural Group for allowing us to invade their spaces and learn by their example.  ...and for the pizza!

The "Imagine" design Project continues at the Barack Obama Green Charter High School, in Plainfield, New Jersey.  In this video, the students are thinking critically, hypothesizing, and problem solving around getting the scale determined so all of their interior renovation design will properly fit within the site boundaries.

Click here to view other video examples of the "Imagine" design process.

SchraderGroup Architecture Project

SCHRADERGROUP Completes Project

for York Suburban School District

 

As part of a strategic plan to realign the grade structure within the District, Schradergroup worked with York Suburban School District to complete renovations and additions totaling 61,327 SF for Valley View Elementary School and to convert the facility from a K-1 to a K-2 school.   The project serves as an important lesson in the role of design as a valuable tool for successful strategic planning and adaptive re-use that maximizes educational resources. 

 

At Valley View, the design of the addition maintains the character of the existing building and features the reuse of the original cupola for the school, removed years ago.  The addition and renovations focus on creating parity in both the quantity and types of rooms in relation to Valley View's sister school, Yorkshire Elementary, which services the same population capacity. 

 

What had once been a series of disjointed additions beginning in the 1940s is replaced with a design seeking coherence in the sum of its parts.  The new entry hall provides a new physical and psychological 'center' for the building, marrying the old and new portions of the facility and their functions.  The entry hall was also conceived as a gallery space providing articulated and well-lit surfaces for showcasing student activities.

 

The renovations maintain and expand an educational campus firmly rooted in a thriving residential neighborhood context.  As part of the comprehensive campus approach to site design, a new bus loop design separates school bus, automobile, and pedestrian traffic, as well as removing bus idling from the busy township roads surrounding the facility.   Other practical achievements include eliminating barriers to accessibility throughout the building and the campus. New and renovated existing HVAC systems augment the efficiency of a campus-wide central energy plant strategy for both heating and cooling.

For more information about Valley View Elementary School and other similar projects, please visit www.sgarc.com.

 

These videos detail the SchraderGroup charrette process for the York Suburban School District:

 

Guerilla Educators was privileged to have played a role in this remarkable project.

Inquiry Based Teaching and Learning in High School; The Built Environment

In this video, students from the Education Research Center at the Rose Tree Media School District have been tasked with the real-world project of designing their art space.  The school is located in a mall and the ownership there has given the empty space adjacent to the school to be converted to the school's Art Center.  The Project will continue through the Spring of 2012 and all design activities will be connected across a variety of curricular objectives.  This is Inquiry Based Teaching and Learning at its finest.  Take a look,...

Future Home of the Elementary School for Sustainable Design

This video documents the initial stages of the educational planning process to re-design physical spaces that were built for purposes other than teaching and learning.  Realtor Brian Wilson, took school architect, David Schrader, Donna Sole, and me to inspect just such a structure that has not been used for its intended purpose in over 10 years. Both the physical facility and the location make the site a very good fit with the Elementary School for Sustainable Design.  Take a look at the "before" phase of the design process. 

Yorkshire Elementary School Citation of Excellence Award

Congratulations to David Schrader and his team at SchraderGroup Architecture.  SchraderGroup's new design of the Yorkshire Elementary School, located in York, PA, earned a 2011 Citation of Excellnce from Learning By Design.  Guerilla Educators is proud to have had a small part of this very successful design outcome particularly at the beginning of the process when David Schrader led a 2 day design charrette that included representatives from the York Suburban School District Administrators, Yorkshire Elementary School Teachers, and, of course, students.  The videos, below, authentically capture the charrette in realtime.   The program begins with Presenters setting the framework and establishing touchstones to help keep the actual design process on track and focused on a successful outcome.  Take a look...

The next video begins with a view of the Yorkshire Elementary School site as it was prior to SchraderGroup Architecture's award winning re-design of the physical facility. It continues with the actual design ideas being developed by the charrette participants including critical input by students. This is how effective teaching and learning spaces are developed.

The final video of this series documenting how award winning teaching and learning spaces are designed shows Day 2 of the Yorkshire Elementary School Design Charrette and includes presentations of the participants design ideas. It is clear throughout the process that student input was both valued and incorporated into the final plan. Again, congratulation, David, on a job very well done!

This from the Learning By Design Magazine's Spring 2011 Edition ...

Yorkshire Elementary School of York, PA, impressed the judges on many levels. “It’s just extremely well-rounded. The exterior design is good architecture, and a lot of good thought has gone into the interior,” said the judges. “Everywhere you look, there’s a lot of good detail.”

The 60,835-square-foot building designed by SCHRADERGROUP Architecture LLC of Philadelphia, PA, serves up to 375 students in kindergarten through second grade. Two major goals included supporting the school’s cross-grade instruction format through spaces designed to allow for interaction, and using the building as a teaching tool. The project also is pursuing LEED Gold certification.

The judges particularly commended the site plan for this project, including the way it breaks down the massing and strives to make every classroom a “corner classroom” with two exposures. “That’s not easy,” they said. The building features a “main street” that runs between shared spaces on one side and academic spaces on the other. The media center functions as the core of the school.

The judges commented on the extensive use of transparency and of graphics throughout the interior, including large, colorful letters. They commented, too, on the careful selection of colors and finishes. Among the instructive building elements are exposed mechanical systems, a detention pond with wetland plantings, and the use of materials salvaged from the school that was replaced. Overall, they said, this is a “very thoroughly thought-through project.”

Educon 2.2

We are pleased to announce that John Sole, President and CEO of Guerilla Educators in collaboration with the architect, David Schrader will be leading a "conversation" at Educon 2.2, one of the most innovative and important educational conferences taking place in the country.  Our starting point of the conversation is Educational Commissioning.

Conversation Description: The main idea is that, in a perfect pedagogical world there is an essential non-difference between the physical facility (the school) and the teaching and learning that takes place inside the walls (the School). Our conversation will focus on how the structure of the school, the very walls, should be a 3 dimensional teaching and learning tool. We will also take a look at how students should be involved from the very beginning of the school design process both to authentically inform educational facilities design and to use the design process as a powerful "real time" method to achieve rigorous grade appropriate curricular and civic proficiencies.

Conversational Practice: Authentic Youtube style video examples of students conducting architecture projects across the grades and participating in school design charrettes will frame and contextualize the conversations. We will also use the physical facility of the SLA with the participants as a vehicle to demonstrate the permeable nature between teaching and learning and the structure where that takes place.

Educon 2.2 will be held between January 29 - 31 at Science Leadership Academy, in Philadelphia.

Guerilla Educators Featured on CNN

Guerilla Educators is now featured on CNN Online, as part of their series,"What if our education system worked better?"

The Charrette, Architectural Design, and Student Learning; a Video

In 2005-2006, SchraderGroup Architects and Guerilla Educators collaborated on 2 high school re-design projects in Philadelphia.  Our collaboration involved connecting the real-world design process to teachers, students, and curriculum via Project Based Service Learning.  In both projects, the process began with multi-day design charrettes that brought together stakeholders to have an authentic voice in creating the most effective re-design of their school.  This video documents the charrette at one of the high schools with the focus on student participation.  Take a look... 

The charrette was the kick-off of a yearlong Service Learning project in which students interacted with design professionals and essentially used the educational facility as a teaching and learning tool - a 3 dimensional textbook.  The commitment by ShraderGroup and their design team to connect the design process to students and curriculum via Project Based Service Learning gave these students an unparalleled opportunity to achieve mastery of their curriculum in a rigorous academic way via real world applications that had great meaning to them (i.e., the re-design of their school). 

Project Based Service Learning Video; Green Architecture in 4th Grade

This video is a powerful synopsis of a 12 week project which took place in 4th grade at Blankenburg Elementary School in West Philadelphia.  Students working in small cooperative groups envisioned, then built models of their lunchroom as a state of the art, high performance, sustainably designed eating area.  Architects from SchraderGroup came into the classroom once a week for 12 weeks to work with the students. Take a look... It is our firm belief that Project Based Service Learning (PBSL) is the most effective pedagogy to effectively educate ALL students regardless of demographic and that connecting school design directly to students, teachers, and curriculum  is the gold standard of the PBSL methodology.  This project was the first of a multi-year project cycle.  In the second project, working with the critical support of Community Partner, NetworkArts, students re-imagined Philadelphia as a "green" city, then they designed and installed a 30 foot long tile mosaic depicting what they learned. The mosaic, installed in one of the school's hallways is a work of art and a living curriculum guide about sustainability.  The final project in the cycle culminated in the students from this school having a personal audience with Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient.  This is the first of many video documentaries that will depict real students doing real projects in and out of real classrooms.